Miller-Meeks will once again face Loebsack in general election

Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks has won the opportunity Tuesday to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack for a third time.

Miller-Meeks defeated Mark Lofgren, a state representative from Muscatine, and Matthew Waldren of Eddyville, an engineering specialist at Pella Corp, according to the Associated Press.

Miller-Meeks ran against Loebsack, a four-term incumbent from Iowa City, in 2008 and 2010.

Miller-Meeks, 58, is an ophthalmologist who served 24 years in the U.S. Army as a nurse and physician. She was the first woman on faculty at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and the first female president of the Iowa Medical Society.

She most recently served for three years as director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, resigning in January. She was appointed to the office by Gov. Terry Branstad.

She and her husband, Curt, live in Ottumwa. They have two children.

When she launched her campaign, she said, "Washington is a dysfunctional mess and it's time to send someone there who has real world experience bringing people together to solve problems. The Affordable Care Act has been anything but affordable and is jeopardizing our quality and access to healthcare. I see firsthand how this law is hurting our citizens and we need to send a doctor to Washington to fix it."

In this campaign, she is targeting three top issues: reforming health care, increasing take-home pay and fighting government corruption.

The matchup

Miller-Meeks, R

Mariannette Miller-Meeks brings name recognition to the race in her third bid as a Republican congressional nominee. She is expected to leverage her credentials as a medical doctor to hammer on what she sees as the evils of Obamacare. Her best hope is to catch a wave of voter antagonism against Obamacare and the Democrats. But the district leans Democratic, and she starts out dwarfed in the money race, with $160,000 in cash on hand.

Loebsack, D

Dave Loebsack is a four-term incumbent with $617,000 in cash on hand in a Democratic-leaning district. He grew up in poverty as the son of a single mother, eventually gained a doctorate, and became a professor of political science at Cornell College in Mount Vernon. He backs Democratic proposals to support working families, such as increasing the minimum wage. On House committees, he has focused on job creation and military and veterans issues.